Engineer takes a stab at acupuncture

Staff Writer

While most retirees would prefer to enjoy themselves in the company of loved ones or engaging in some recreational activity, some like Il Hoon David Hwang prefer opening a new chapter in life.

Hwang, the likeable 65-year-old proprietor of El Centro Acupuncture, did just that several years ago when he switched from a career in mechanical engineering to Oriental medicine.

“Yeah, I’m still young,” he said recently with a laugh. “I’m working very hard.”

It wasn’t hard for Hwang, who — after his retirement in 2001 — sought and earned a Master of Science degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine three years later from South Baylo University in Los Angeles.

Pursuing the degree and then entering into the field of acupuncture was realizing a dream deferred, Hwang said. He initially desired to enter into medicine during his youth in his native Korea but couldn’t go to medical school because of the expense, Hwang said.

So, he went for engineering instead and eventually found his way with an electrical company in Korea, that also had a facility in Mexicali, and stayed with the firm for 33 years up until his retirement, Hwang said.

Despite his advanced age, Hwang wasted no time in fulfilling his long lost goal. He moved out to the Imperial Valley and opened his clinic in 2005, he said. Hwang’s clinic is in El Centro at 1121 South 4th St., Suite A.

When asked now effective acupuncture is, Hwang said that sometimes the practice of using fine, sterilized needles to relieve pain can become “miraculous” for patients and “all the pain is gone,” Hwang said.

“It’s very effective in pain control, weight control, insomnia, stress,” said Hwang, who added that acupuncture therapy is mainly useful in relieving pain to the back, ankle and knee.

According to literature provided by his office, acupuncture is regarded as a science dating back 5,000 years and stimulates the healing forces in the body through the careful application of fine needles in the circulatory, muscular, nervous and digestive systems. The needles are placed at specific points of the body.

Acupuncture, Hwang’s material reads, “is based on the belief that health is determined by a balanced flow of ‘qi’ (also referred to as ‘chi’), the vital life energy present in all living organisms.”

Hwang’s clinic is in El Centro at 1121 South 4th St., Suite A.

“Qi” circulates in the body along 12 major pathways, called meridians, which are linked to specific internal organs and organ systems, the material reads.

The needles Hwang uses are disposable and discarded after a single use following acupuncture therapy at his clinic, he said. The needles, which the literature indicates, are individually wrapped and are very thin, do not cause any sensation of pain.

“Once they come into my clinic,” Hwang said about his patients, “they’re satisfied.”